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Kashimashi, what a strange series it was. And oddly enough, it turned out as something of perfection.
Although at first it may sound either like some junky fanservice anime, or something just plain weird, I'll tell you right now that the "core" of the series isn't about Hazumu's gender change, it was something more of an initial gimmick. But for a gimmick, it worked well and evrn tied itself into the larger, real story in an oddly natural way.

I consider one of the most important points in a series its 'heart'. Kashimashi fully succeeded in having heart to it. The characters, from the dynamic characters of ... Hazumu, Tomari and Yasuna, to even more static characters like Jan-puu and Ayuki, were likable and easy to understand. When the series took its turn for the emotional, we got to see deeper in every character's heart. Some characters like Asuta and Hazumu's dad were only for the purpose of humor. It got mildly repetitive, but in the long run, it added to the complete package.

The way the last few episodes were done amazed me. Totally unexpected from something that at first seemed so trivial and weird.
I would complain a bit about this anime's slow and goofy first few episodes, but then I realized it was the series' way to really get the feel of the atmostphere and characters so that the ending would feel even stronger and more like every character grew. And Hazumu has to be one of the nicest, sweetest characters I've ever known.
Tomari was my personal favorite, her emotions were everywhere and she went from a playful, brash tsundere-type to a broken, stubborn character, to a deeply caring girl with a huge heart. And there was Yasuna, who's story was the most outright emotional. Explaining more about Yasuna though, would lead to spoilers.

The sound and art were standard. Girly soundtrack and a very nice ending theme. The emotional tracks were well done and added greatly to the mood, but the rest of the tracks were a bit forgettable.
The art style was adorable and pretty, yet it was a bit bland. Since the anime was made in 2006, I wouldn't call it bad. I'd call it standard.
The character designs I felt were great though.

Kashimashi is a series where you can laugh and cry with the characters, and the ending provides with a very warm, fuzzy feeling that lasts for a while. In short, it was a well-done and sweet series.


Story: 7
Art: 6
Sound: 7
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8

So, this is my first review, so sorry if I seem a bit um...
n-noobish...
Well, I'm not sure if I look quite as noobish as Nina with her magic...
(...you do realize that was my bad pick-up line attempt there? |'D)

Ahem... let's start.

Story:
(7/10)

... Girl fails magic school, transfers to regular human school, meets friend, helps friend, mishaps happen, romances blossom, other characters appear,
...that's basically the outline of it.
It's quite entertaining to read, actually. It's got quite bit of humor, and later on some drama, not to heavy though, but just a good amount.
I have to say the whole "Magic Kingdom" gimmick was pretty nice too
There were some characters who had small roles, but overall they made the story enjoyable, even though the minor characters maybe likely to be forgotton.


Characters: 8/10
(types we've all seen before now and again, but put together in a way that works great.)

Ayu personally appealed to me. Even though she did seem typical in some places, there was something about her (and the rest of the characters) that seemed lovable.
Probably the mangakas efforts to make them a cast to get attached to the characters shined through.
I know many people would describe Ayu as "plain", and she even admits herself that that's she style she goes for. But I give her props on being a shojo heroine who is actually "sane" for once xD;;

Now for the other one, Nina. She's the slightly more... "insane" one.
But the way she is is in more of a unique way; she's a witch failing magic classes and will do anything to help a friend (even if that means screwing up in total embarassment.)
She has this "naive, young wonder" kind of air going on, and like I said, is very sweet and loves to help out her friends, even though it backfires.
She isn't really all that "goofy" or "looney", at least intentionally, as does seem to have some seriousness somewhere, but that's mostly covered by her innocence/immaturity.

Basically, the friendship between Ayu and Nina was one of my favorite things in this manga.

As for the boys, Tetsushi would be that one character people would forget after they skim through this manga. Even though he was nowhere near as bad as some other generic guys that seem to be abundant in shojo. His personality was cheerful, which I liked.
I'll just end this by saying Hiroki is the serious guy because I'm writing a bit too much.


Art- (9/10)

The art is pretty much a very good definition of "shojo style"
In my opinion, the entire manga seems good for someone who's just starting to delve into the shojo genre.
The lines are smooth, flawless for the most part, the graphics have less of the "random sparkles everywhere" thing going on than your average Nakayoshi/Ribon/Ciao-type comic. (which can be good or bad)
The expressions are very well-drawn for the most part. Although the way they look when they turn into exaggerated chibis may look a but odd, it's easy to get used to.


Enjoyment/re-read value:
(9/10)
I find myself picking up one of the books and re-reading it a good amount of times, it's a quick 5 volumes and doesn't have many parts that drag. Even though sometimes you might have to go back and "scan" the book again before you can realize what's going on with all the characters at the moment, because a lot of happenings and conflict unfolds with volume 3-4.

So in the end, it's a quick and easy read, a great shojo for those who like romantic comedies sprinkled with a bit of magic.